Sharpening machine for tool-carrying heads



July 5, 1966 SHARPENING MACHINE FOR TOOL-CARRYING HEADS Filed Sept. 2]., 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 I l/18 P xfi 1 9h! '1 I 5 27' 1 10 v T 25 g r 7 Q4 h m lor- Maurice, 7

Malawi f/rl'k July 5, 1966 M. GARlN 3,258,880

SHARPENING MACHINE FOR TOOL-CARRYING HEADS Filed Sept. 21, 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 5, 1966 M. GARlN SHARPENING MACHINE FOR TOOL-CARRYING HEADS Filed Sept. 21, 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 y 5, 1966 M. GARlN 3,258,880

SHARPENING MACHINE FOR TOOL-CARRYING HEADS Filed Sept. 21, 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 July 5, I966 M. GARlN 3,258,880

SHARPENING MACHINE FOR TOOL-CARRYING HEADS Filed Sept. 21, 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 3 mun-Inn"- n July 5, 1966 M. GARIN SHARPENING MACHINE FOR TOOL-CARRYING HEADS Filed Sept. 21, 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 y 5, 1966 M. GARIN 3,258,880

SHARPENING MACHINE FOR TOOL-CARRYING HEADS Filed Sept. 21, 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 1%.. M. WNW W" zi lj a y 5, 1966 M. GARIN 3,258,880

SHARPENING MACHINE FOR TOOL-CARRYING HEADS Filed Sept. 21, 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 United States Patent 3,258,880 SHARPENING MACHINE FOR TOOL-CARRYING HEADS Maurice Garin, 7 Rue Jules Massenet, Lyon, France Filed Sept. 21, 1964, Ser. No. 397,852 Claims priority, application France, Sept. 15, 1961, 41,859 8 Claims. (Cl. 51-1255) This application is a continuation-in-part of the application Serial No. 224,057, filed September 17, 1962, entitled Sharpening Machine for Tool-Carrying Heads, and now abandoned.

The present invention relates to grinding machines, and in particular to machines for grinding articles such as cutters of the type used in machine tools.

Known machines of this type are exceedingly complex. They require the adjustable components to be moved through relatively large distances, and their output is relatively limited. Furthermore, many machines of this type are adapted for use with only one type of grinding wheel, and the operations which are required to be performed by the operator are exceedingly inconvenient.

It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a relatively simple grinding machine of the above type which with one grinding wheel can perform all of the required operations and which can be operated with great convenience by the operator in a manner permitting the operator to keep his eyes on the work at all times even when making certain adjustments.

It is furthermore an object of the present invention to provide a grinding machine of the above type which can be adjusted through a relatively small range of adjustment to perform the required work, so that the machine of the invention does not require long movements of different components and thus the speed with which the machine can be operated and the size of the entire machine can be reduced.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a machine of the above type which can easily double the output of a conventional machine and without too much difficulty can even triple the output of known machines.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a machine of the above type which can carry out grinding operations on all types of machine tool cutters, such as conventional tool bits of the type used on lathes, milling cutters, one-piece cutters, cutters which have special cutting tools joined to a base of the cutter, cutters which are intended to machine internal bores, and all other types of cutters which are used in machine tools.

Moreover, it is an object of the invention to provide a structure which While capable of performing the above operations nevertheless does not sacrifice any precision so that with the machine of the invention very precise grinding operations can be carried out.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a machine of the above type which can use any type of grinding wheel and which at the same time conserves the grinding wheel so that any particular grinding wheel which is used on the machine of the invention will carry out grinding operations longer than and will grind more articles than the same grinding wheel used on conventional machines.

The objects of the present invention also include the provision of a grinding machine of the above type which while relatively small and compact nevertheless is exceedingly stable and is capable of grinding not only workpieces conventionally encountered in practice but also unusually large workpieces for which the grinding machine of the invention can be readily adapted with a minimum of inconvenience,

3,258,880 Patented July 5, 1966 Among the objects of the present invention also is the provision of a grinding machine of the above type which can carry out grinding operations with a minimum number of cuts so that the number of times the grinding wheel must extend across the work to grind the latter is substantially reduced as compared to conventional machines, and furthermore the objects of the invention include the provision of a machine which is capable of very conveniently carrying out both rough-grinding and finish-grinding operations.

With the above objects in view the invention includes, in a grinding machine for grinding cutters of machine tools, a base means and a vertically movable support means carried by the base means for vertical movement relative thereto and having a top end portion which is situated above the base means. A rotary support means is carried by the top end portion of the vertical movable support means for turning movement about a substantially vertical axis, and a rockable support means is supported by the rotary support means for rocking movement about a substantially horizontal axis. A work-holding means is carried by the rockable support means for movement with respect thereto along a path which extends parallel to the substantially horizontal axis about which the rockable support means is capable of turning relative to the rotary support means, so that with this construction it is possible to position the work at an infinite number of attitudes within a given space, and the machine of the invention is arranged so that the work is clearly visible to the operator when mounted on the machine of the invention.

Furthermore, the machine of the invention includes a lower carriage means which is carried by the base means and an upper carriage means which is carried by the lower carriage means, these carriage means being respectively movable in mutually perpendicular directions, and the upper carriage means carries an angularly movable support means which turns with respect to the upper carriage means about an axis which is substantially horizontal and which extends toward the general location of the work. A rotary wheel-carrying means is carried by the angularly movable support means for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the axis about which the angularly movable support means turns, and this rotary wheel carrying means is adapted to carry a grinding wheel at a location adjacent the work which is to be ground. In accordance with the present invention a means is operatively connected to the vertically movable support means for displacing the latter vertically through a given increment at each actuation of this means which is connected. to the vertically movable support means, and in addition the rotary wheel carrying means is capable of being displaced along its axis which is perpendicular to the axis about which the angularly movable support means turns.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic front elevation of one possible embodiment of a grinding machine according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of the machine of FIG. 1 as seen from the left of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic side elevation, on an enlarged scale as compared with FIGS. 1-3, of structure for setting the machine to carry out either rough-grinding operations or finish-grinding operations;

FIG. is a schematic sectional view of the structure of FIG. 4 taken along line 55 of FIG. 4 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates a structure of the invention for displacing a vertically movable support means through a predetermined increment;

FIG. 7 shows the structure of FIG. 6 with the parts in a position which they assume at a stage of the operation subsequent to that which is illustrated in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 shows the structure of FIGS. 6 and 7 in a position which the parts assume subsequent to the position thereof illustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a partly sectional perspective illustration of an embodiment of the machine of the invent-ion which in minor respects differs from that of FIGS. 1-3, FIG. 9 showing in detail the manner in which the various components of the machine of the invention cooperate with each other;

FIGS. 10-16 illustrate various settings of the machine; and

FIGS. l7A-17C show a tool sharpened by the machine.

Referring to FIGS. l-3 and 9, it will be seen that the grinding machine of the invention includes a base means 1 which at a front portion carries an assembly of support means for supporting the work which is to be ground, while at the rear of the base means the latter carries a structure which supports the grinding wheel. In the interior of the base means is situated a pump and a reservoir of fluid to be pumped thereby, this structure not being shown but being accessible through the door 2 which is illustrated in FIG. 1. The base means 1 has a lower portion 3 which directly engages the floor and which has a substantially triangular configuration in order to assure that even relatively large workpieces will be situated above the center of gravity of the machine, so that in this way the stability of the machine of the invention is enhanced.

The front of the base means 1 supports a vertically movable support means 50, in the form of a hollow column, for vertical movement, and it will be noted that the top end portion of the vertically movable support means '50 is situated above the base means. A hand wheel 4 is accessible to the operator for manually changing the elevation of the vertically movable support means 50. Referring to FIG. 9 -it will be seen that a rotary'screw 53 is supported for rotation at its top end in a suitable thrust bearing which is fixed to the top Wall of -the base means 1 at the underside of this top wall, so that in this way while the screw 53 can turn about its axis it cannot move along its axis, and the screw 53 extends threadedly through a nut 54 which is fixed to the vertically movable support means 50. Therefore during turning of the screw 53 the vertically movable support means 50 will be raised 'or lowered. The screw 53 fixedly carries a worm-wheel 52 which meshes with a worm 51 which is coaxially fixed to the hand wheel 4, so that when the operator turns the latter the worm 51 and worm-wheel 52 will cooperate to turn the screw 53 and thus raise or lower the vertically movable support means 50.

A rotary support means 5 is turnably carried by the top end portion of the vertically movable support means 54) over the base means 1, and this rotary support means 5 can have its angular position relative to the column 50 determined by a suitable scale, as indicated in FIG. 9 at the top of the column 50. The structure is such that the rotary support means 5 will turn about a substantially vertical axis and will have an angular turning range which at a minimum will be approximately 240. The structure of FIGS. 1-3 differs from that of FIG. 9 in a number of different ways, and one of th diiferences is that in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3 the scale for determining the angular position of the rotary support means 5 is carried by a side surface of the rotary support means 5 'while a hand crank 6 is available for releasably fixing the rotary support means 5 ata Selected angular position with respect to the substantially vertical axis about which the support means 5 turns. In FIG. 9 a screw 6 having an hexagonal head is available for releasably fixing the rotary support means 5 in a selected angular position. Furthermore, the axis about which the support means 5 turns coincides with the axis of the column 50. In connection with scales, it is pointed out that FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate on the periphery of the hand-wheel 4 a suitable scale cooperating with a stationary index carried by the base means for indicating the elevation to which the column 50 is moved upon rotation of the hand-wheel 4. In order to protect the portion of the column 50 which projects above the base means 1, a bellows 7 is connected at its bottom end to the top of the base means 1 and at its top end to a ring which surrounds the column 50, so that during raising and lowering of the latter the exterior thereof which projects above the base means will be protected by the expandible and contractible flexible bellows 7.

The rotary support means 5 has in cross section the configuration of a trough or cradle, and in this way the rotary support means 5 serves to support for rocking movement a rockable support means 8 which extends along the rotary support means 5 and which is rockable with respect thereto about a substantially horizontal axis which is normal to the vertical axis of the column 50 along which the latter moves and about which the rotary support means 5 turns. A rotary screw is available to the operator for selecting the inclination of the rockable support means 8. Thus, as is indicated diagrammatically in FIG. 1, a screw 9 is accessible to the operator and is supported for rotation about its axis which extends horizontally, this screw 9 being, for example, in the form of a worm which meshes with a worm-wheel sec-tion fixed to the bottom of the rockable support means 8 at a portion thereof received in the rotary support means 5, so that by turning the screw 9 the rockable support means 8 can be rocked about its horizontal axis.

A work-holding means 10 is carried by the rockable support means 8 on suitable guideways for shifting movement along a straight line parallel to the horizontal axis about which the rockable support means 8 can turn rela' tive to the rotary support means 5, and this holding means 10 includes portions which slidably engage the guides 49 shown in FIG. 9 which support the holding means 10 for movement along the rockable sup-port means 8. The position of the holding means 10 can be releasably maintained by manipulation of a handle 48 which is shown in FIG. 1 and which through a suitable transmission is capable of being moved along the elongated slot 47 formed in the support means 8 and shown in FIG. 1. Thus, the turning of the handle 48 will result in movement of the work-holding means 10 along the rockable support means 8 so as to determine the position of the work-holding means. This work-holding means 10 is formed with a bore 46 which receives part of the workpiece W and which serves for fixing work-piece W to the work-holding means 10 at a selected angular position.

The rockable support means 8 has a pair of projecting portions fixed to and projecting laterally from opposed side walls of the rockable support means 8, and these projections 45 include manually operable clamping portions which are capable of selectively clamping a stop 27' on one side or the other side of the support means 8 depending upon the direction the operator selects for progression of the grinding operations along the workpiece. The stop 27' can be releasably clamped to one or the other side of the support means 8 in a position where it necessarily extends perpendicularly with respect to the .axis about which the support means 8 turns, and at its top end the stop 27' has a lateral projection which is adapted to engage a part of the work so as to determine the angular position thereof, and in this way the workpiece is angularly oriented with respect to the vertical axis of the column 50, so that once the angular position of the work is determined by engagement with the stop 27', the successive cuts can be angularly displaced one with respect to the other in accordance with the increments through which it is selected to trun the rotary support means 5 from one operation to the next. FIGS. l3 diagrammatically indicate a workpiece carried by the work-holding means and engaged by the stop 27, this particular workpiece including a circular base mem her to which a plurality of cutting teeth are fixed.

In order to simplify control of the operations and increase the range of possible ways in which the machine can be regulated, a moving means is operatively connected to the vertically movable support means 5 for moving the latter vertically by a predetermined increment at each actuation of the moving means, and a foot-pedal 11 is available to the operator for actuating this moving means to displace the vertically movable support means 50 through a given increment at each depression of the pedal 11. Thus, the operator can actuate the pedal 11 so as to control the elevation of the column 50 and thus control the elevation of the rotary support means 5 and the rockable support means 8 carried thereby. As may be seen from FIG. 9 the pivotally supported foot-pedal 11 is pivotally connected to the bottom end of a rod 44 which at its top end is fixed to a strap 37. The top end of the strap 37 is pivotally connected to a disk 38 which is freely turable on the rotary screw 51. A toothed ring 36 is fixed to the hand-wheel 4 for rotation therewith, and the ring 36 is provided with ratchet teeth cooperating with a pawl carried by the disk 38 so that the latter acts as a pawl assembly to cooperate with the ratchet teeth 36 for turning the wheel 4, during movement of the pedal 11, in one direction while in the opposite direction the pawl assembly 38 returns to its initial position without turning the hand-wheel 4. The hand-wheel 4 is of course fixed directly to the rotary worm 51. In the rest position of the parts shown in FIG. 9 the arrangement is such that the pawl 38 does not engage the ratchet teeth 36 so that the hand-wheel 4 can be turned in either direction for raising or lowering the column 50 since the ratchet teeth 36 will not cooperate with the pawl 38 at this time. However, when the operator actuates the pedal 11 the pawl will move into engagement with the teeth 36 for rotating the hand-wheel 4 and the worm 51 therewith in a direction which, for example, will raise the column 50 through a given increment at each actuation of the footpedal 11.

The above means for displacing the vertically movable support means 50 by a given increment at each actuation of the pedal 11 is shown in an idealized manner in FIGS. 6-8 where the ratchet wheel 36 corresponds to the hand-wheel 4 and is fixed to the rotary shaft which represents the shank of the worm 51 and forms a coaxial extension thereof. A lever 37 is freely turnable on the shank 35 and of course corresponds to the strap 37 shown in FIG. 9 while FIGS. 68 illustrate a pawl 38 corresponding to the disc 38 of FIG. 9 and illustrated in FIGS. 68 as pivotally connected at 39 to the lever 37. A spring 40 is connected to the pawl 38 for urging the latter to turn in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIGS. 68, about the pivot 39 which is carried by the lever 37. FIGS. 68 also show a pair of stop members 41 and 42 between which the lever 37 can turn from the position of FIG. 6 to that of FIG. 8, and of course the lever 37 will then return to the position of FIG. 6. The parts are shown in their position of rest in FIG. 6, and it will be noted that in this position the stop 41 maintains the pawl 38 out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 36, and of course in this position of the structure of FIG. 9 there will be no operative connection between the pawldisc 38 and the teeth 36 so that the wheel 4 can be turned in either direction to raise or lower the column 50, as was pointed out above. Upon actuation of the pedal 11 the lever 37 will be raised from the position of FIG. 6 toward the position of FIG. 8, in opposition to the spring 40, and the result of this operation is that the tensioned spring 40 turns the pawl 38 in a clockwise direction about the pivot 39 as the lever 37 raises, and it will be noted that the pawl 38 can now, Without interference from the stop 41, move into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet 36 so that during raising of the lever 37 the ratchet 36 will be turned through an angular increment such as the angular increment 43 indicated in FIG. 7. When the lever 37 has been raised into engagement with the stop 41, as shown in FIG. 8, the ratchet 36 will have been turned through this angular increment 43, with the result that the column 50 will have been vertically displaced also through a predetermined increment. When the parts return to the rest position of FIG. 6 the ratchet 36 of course does not turn and the return movement of the lever 37 is limited by the stop 42, while the stop 41 now engages the pawl 38 to displace it away from the ratchet 36.

This structure is preferably so designed that at each actuation of the pedal :11 the column 50 will be raised through a predetermined increment, and it is preferred to design the structure so that at each actuation of this moving means the vertically movable support means 50 will be raised by an increment of 0.0-2 mm.

This particular feature of the invention is a great advantage to the operator of the machine of the invention. For example if during the operations on a particular workpiece the operator judges that the conditions are such that the elevation of the workpiece should be increased by 0.06 mm, then al that the operator need do is actuate the foot-pedal 11 three times. It is to be noted that this operation does not require the operator to remove his eyes from the work. Furthermore, this operation does not require the operator to actuate any releasable locks, brakes, or the like, so that without requiring any manual operations and without requiring the operator to take his attention away from the work it is possible for the operator at any desired time to actuate the pedal 11 so as to raise the work.

The structure of the invention as thus far described above and shown in the drawings is that part of the machine of the invention which supports the workpiece which is to be ground. It is to be noted that the workpiece is supported on top of the work-holding means 10 so that it is clearly visible to the operator at all times. Furthermore, it is possible with this structure of the invention to situate the workpiece at any desired attitude Within va given space conveniently in the immediate vicinity of the operator. As may be seen from FIG. 1 one of the adjustments is a vertical adjust-ment V which can be brought about either manually by rotation of the handwheel 4 or through predetermined increments by actuation of the pedal 11, as described above. Furthermore, as may be seen from FIG. 3 in particular, it is possible by adjustment of the rotary support means 5 to vary the angular position of the work about a vertical axis as indicated by the dotted arrow P of FIG. 3. Furthermore, as is shown in FIG. 2, the rockable support means 8 enables the work to be tilted about a horizontal axis in the direction of the dotted arrow I shown in FIG. 2. Finally, the work-holding means 10 enables the workpiece to be situated at a selected location along a path parallel to the axis about which the rockable support means 8 turns, and through the use of the bore 46 of the workholding means 10 and the stop 27 the initial angular position of the work can be oriented with respect to the initial angular position of the rotary support means 5. The movement of the work-holding means 10 relative to the rockable support means 8 is indicated by the arrow C in FIG. 1. Therefore, it is apparent that with this construction it is possible to angularly position the workpiece at an infinite number of positions within a given space at any desired attitude, and furthermore, the adjustments for locating the workpiece require relatively small movements of the several support means and can be quickly and easily carried out by the operator.

Situated at the rear portion of the base means 1 is the structure for carrying the grinding wheel 18. This structure includes a hollow portion 12 of the base means 1, this portion 12 supporting a carriage means 13 which forms a lower carriage means capable of moving along a straight line back and forth toward and away from the column 50. The lower part of the longitudinally rnovable carriage means 13 carries a dovetail projection 55 which cooperates with the bevelled surfaces of a pair of guideways 56 carried by the top surface of the portion 12 of the base means 1, so that in this way a dovetail guide is provided to cooperate with the dovetail projection 56 for guiding the carriage 13 back and forth toward and away from the column 50. In order to reduce the frictional resistance to movement Of the carriage 13 it rests on four rows of freely rotatable needle bearings carried by the guides 56 so that there is very little resistance to movement of the lower carriage means '13 back and forth along the dovetail guides 56.

The lower carriage means 13 carries an upper carriage means 14 which is supported on the carriage means 13 for movement in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the carriage 113, so that the upper carriage 14 in the illustrated example is a transversely movable carriage means, and it will be noted from FIG. 9 that the carriage 13 fixedly carries suitable transverse Ways on which the carriage 14 is guided for movement back and forth in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the carriage means 13. In order to move the carriage 14 it is provided with a split nut, for example, threaded onto a rotary screw 66 which is free to turn with respect to the carriage 13 but which cannot move axially with respect thereto, and this rotary screw 66 has a free end which carries a hand-wheel 15 provided with suitable graduations, visible in FIGS. 2 and 3, these graduations cooperating with a stationary index so that by turning the hand-wheel 15 the screw 66 will turn in order to advance the carriage means 14 transversely with respect to the carriage means 13 to a selected location.

A removable supporting structure 16 is removably fixed to and extends upwardly from the carriage means 14, and this supporting structure 16 is rendered removable so that when necessary it can be replaced by a supporting structure 16 of a different size in order to enable particularly large workpieces to be ground with the machine of the invention. Along one side the supporting structure 16, which actually forms part of the transversely movable carriage means 13, carries a plate 17 which carries suitable indicia and is provided with suitable openings to enable electrical connections to be made with switches and the like situated at the plate 17. These electrical features do not form part of the invention and therefore are not illustrated.

The upper removable portion 16 of the carriage 14 carries an angularly movable support means 20 which, :as illustrated in FIG. 9, is fixedly connected with one end of the elongated shaft 57 which is supported for rotary movement by the supporting structure 16 and which has a horizontal axis parallel to the direction of movement of the carriage means 13. The carriage means 14 also supports for rotary movement at the supporting structure 16 thereof a rotary worm 58 having a handwheel 19 fixed thereto and provided with suitable graduations so that the angular position of the hand-wheel 19 and thus of the worm 58 will be indicated to the operator, and this worm 58 cooperates with a worm-wheel 59 which surrounds and is fixed to the rotary shaft 57, so that by turning the worm 58 through manual turning of the wheel 19 it is possible to determine the angular position of the angularly movable support means 20. The support means 21) forms the head of the machine which carries the rotary grinding wheel 18 in a manner described in greater detail below, and in order to absolutely fix the angularly movable support means 20 in a selected angular position the free end of the shaft 57 distant from the support means 20 carries a plurality of braking discs '60 which through a handle 21 can be clamped so as to fix the shaft 57 and thus the support means 24} at a selected position until the lever 21 is turned to release the brake means 60 whereupon the hand-wheel 19 can be turned to change the angular position of the support means 20.

In the embodiment of FIGS. l-3 the head 20 for the rotary wheel carrying means is also turnable about the axis of the shaft 57 which is situated within the supporting structure 16, but at one end the head 20 has a cover which supports the wheel-carrying means, indicated schematically by the reference character 27 in FIGS. 4 and 5, for vertical movement, while the motor 23 for driving the wheel 18 is in the embodiment of FIGS. l-3 connected to the opposite end of a housing, mounted on suitable shock-absorbing bearings, and through suitable belts and pulleys the motor 23 is capable of rotating the structure which carries the wheel 18 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3.

A further feature of the present invention includes a means which enables the operator to select either roughgrinding or finish-grinding operations. For this purpose the rotary or angularly movable support means 20 carries at its side. surface a turnable control member 22 which the operator can turn between a rough-grinding position and a finish-grinding position. In the roughgrinding position it is possible for the operator to control the pressure of the grinding wheel 18 and to displace the latter along its axis of rotation through several millimeters, while in the finish-grinding position the location of the grinding wheel 18 along its axis of rotation is fixed.

In the embodiment of FIG. 9, the motor 23 is also situated within a housing 27, but this motor 23 has its shaft directly connected to the wheel 18 so :as to directly carry the latter, and a portion of the housing 27 is in the form of a tubular extension which is coaxial with the motor 23 as well as with the rotary axis of the wheel 18 and which is guided for axial movement in a suitable tubular bearing portion of the angularly movable support means 20, as shown at the upper portion of FIG. 9. It will be apparent from the description which follows that the principle of operation of the grinding wheel with the embodiment of FIG. 9 is the same :as that of FIGS. 13, although the structure used for changing the elevation of the grinding wheel 18 is slightly different.

In both embodiments of the invention the longitudinal movement of the carriage means 13 is brought about by way of a manually operable lever means which includes a manually turnable lever 24 connected to the carriage means 13 by a connecting rod 62. This connecting rod 62 is pivotally connected at one end to the carriage 13 and at 63 to the lever 24 which at its inner end not visible in FIG. 9 is pivotally connected to the base means 1, so that by turning the lever 24 about the vertical axis provided by its pivotal connection to the base means 1 the connecting rod 62 will transmit the turning movement of the lever 24 to the carriage 13 in order to displace the latter longitudinally.

As may be seen from FIG. 9, the lever 24 is hollow and a cable 34 passes along the hollow interior of the lever 24. One end of this cable is connected to a free end of a lever 25 which is pivotally connected intermediate its ends to the lever 24 and the configuration of the lever 25 is such that the operator can turn the lever 25 relative to the lever 24 so as to displace the cable 34. This cable 34 passes from the interior of the carriage 13, through the open inner end of the hollow lever 24, out of the carriage 13 through a suitable sheath shown at the upper right portion of FIG. 9 into the hollow shaft 57 and :along the latter around suitable guiding rollers to an end of a lever 64 which is pivotally mounted on the angularly movable support means 20 at 65 and which has a free end engaging a member connected to the housing 27 of the motor 23 so that in response to turning of the lever 25 the entire housing 27 and the motor 23 therewith can be raised or lowered so as to enable the operator to manually control the elevation of the grinding wheel 18 within certain limits.

As may be seen from FIGS. 1-3, this structure for controlling the grinding wheel 18 is synchronized with the angular range of movement I of the angularly movable support means 20, shown in FIG. 2, as well as with the longitudinal movement of the carriage 13 indicated at L in FIG. 3 and with the transverse movement T of the carriage 14, also indicated in FIG. 3, this transverse movement being of a range somewhat less than the longitudinal movement, and of course being provided by turning of the hand-wheel 15, so that it is possible to move the wheel 18 in order to take lateral cuts as well as longitudinal cuts.

The structure for providing the operator with a choice of rough-grinding or finish-grinding operations is schematically illustrated in greater detail in FIGS. 4 and 5 which correspond to the embodiment of FIGS. l3. The angularly movable support means 20 carries the rotary wheel supporting structure 27 in a manner enabling the latter to shift axially as indicated by the dotted arrow EF at the lower left of FIG. 4. This wheel-carrying means 27 is formed with teeth which mesh with a rotary pinion 28 fixed to one end of a leaf spring 22 which at its opposite end is fixed to the slotted member 30 which receives in its slot a pin 31 which is eccentrically fixed to a rotary member 32 provided at the exterior of the machine with the handle 33 corresponding to the member 22 described above.

With this construction the operator can turn the button 33 so as to displace the pin 31 in the direction of the arrow E shown at the upper right portion of FIG. 4, and the result will be that the wheel-carrying means 27 will be lowered in the direction of the arrow B shown at the lower left of FIG. 4, and it is to be noted that the cable 34 is connected to a lever which projects from the rotary member 28, so that with the housing 27 thus lowered there will be a pull on the cable 34 and the wheel 18 will have been displaced to its lowermost elevation and the weight of the wheel 18 and the structure which carries the same will at this time be transmitted through the spring 29 to the element 30 which with its right slot engaging, at the right end of the slot, the pin 31, will resiliently support the structure 27 and the grinding wheel 18 therewith. The operator can now manipulate the lever 25 so as to pull on the cable 34 and thus raise the grinding wheel 18 so that within certain limits the elevation thereof can be regulated. However, of even greater importance is the fact that in this way the operator can regulate the pressure with which the grinding wheel 18 engages the work. Of course, with the button 33 in the position E shown at the upper right of FIG. 4 it is possible for the operator to raise the wheel 18 all the way to its uppermost position in opposition to the spring 29 simply by pulling as far as possible on the cable 34 through turning of the lever 25 and the lever 24.

Manual turning of the button 33 in the direction of the arrow F shown at the lower right portion of FIG. 4 will raise the wheel-carrying structure 27 back to its uppermost position in which it is releasably maintained. At this uppermost position the cable 34 is of course loose so that the manipulation of the lever 25 cannot disturb the uppermost position of the wheel 18, and in this uppermost position the wheel 18 is adapted to carry out the finishing operations. According to one of the important features of the invention the lower fiat surface of the wheel 18, when the latter is in its uppermost position for finishing grinding operations, is in a plane which includes the axis of the shaft 57.

In the embodiment of FIG. 9 the manually turnable member 33 is situated at the top of the angularly movable support means 20 and when the member33 is turned it actuates a cam having an inclined camming surface which enables the housing 27 to become lowered due to its own weight when the element 33 is turned, the weight of the housing 27 at this time being supported by a coil tension spring 29a which corresponds to the spring 29, spring 29a is fixed at opposite ends to the housing 27 and to the support means 20 and thus when the wheel 18 is manually lowered in this way it will simply be supported by the spring 29a. A lever 64 which is pivoted at 65 has its free end extending beneath a shoulder of the structure which is operated by the annular cam which turns with the handle 33 so that by pulling on the cable 34 it is possible to turn the lever 64 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 9, so as to raise the housing 27 and the wheel 18 therewith. When the handle 33 is turned in the opposite direction the cam which turns therewith raises the housing 27 to its uppermost position where the outer, right end of the lever 64, as viewed in FIG. 9, is in its lower most position, so that hereagain at this time manipulation of the cable 34 through the lever 25 will have no influence on the position of the wheel 18 which in its uppermost position is in the finish-grinding position where the lower face of the wheel 18 is in the plane which includes the axis of the shaft 57.

Thus, with both of the embodiments of the invention the wheel 18 will either have a fixed position for finished grinding or it can be displaced along the axis of rotation for rough-grinding operations, the control at this time being quite sensitive and being manually controlled by the operator through the cable 34 and the lever 25. In the finish-grinding position where the wheel 18 is fixed in its uppermost position, the button 33 is in the position F, the lever 25 is at rest, and the grinding surface of the wheel 18 is in a plane which includes the axis of the shaft 57. Turning of the element 33 will lower the grinding wheel and will place it in a position supported by the spring 29, and at this time a simple pressure of a finger on the lever 25 carried by the lever 24 will cause the grinding wheel to rise under the action of the cable 34, and this operation of the wheel 18 enables it to pass over the work. The grinding wheel 18 now being placed above the workpiece, the operator can relax the pressure on the lever 25 so as to free the wheel 18 which can now press downwardly against the workpiece with the relatively light pressure which can easily be determined by the engagement of the lever 24 by the finger of the operator, and simultaneously the operator can turn the lever 24 back and forth so as to bring about the longitudinal displacement of the carriage 13 in both directions, and thus the grinding wheel 18 can be passed back and forth over the work engaging the latter with a pressure which is easily determined and maintained by the operatorv The operator can then raise the grinding wheel by turning the lever 25, and if necessary the lever 24 can be turned so as to displace the grinding Wheel back away from the work so as to be able to pass the latter without engaging the same. The roughgrinding operations can be carried out in this way, and when they are completed the button 33 is returned to the position F, thus immobilizing the grinding wheel at its normal elevation where its grinding surface is in a plane which includes the axis of the shaft 57, and the lever 25 will now have no influence on the operations. With these rough-grinding capabilities of the machine of the invention it is possible, for example, to remove metal having a thickness of 1 mm. from a workpiece with two passes of the grinding wheel over the work, whereas with a conventional machine 25 successive passes each removing 0.04 mm. would be required. During operation of the machine of the invention the grinding wheel 18 works to a far greater extent with its fiat grinding face 1 1 then with its edge, so that the flatness of the flat grinding face is preserved.

As an example of the operations which can be performed with the machine, assume that the workpiece to be ground is (FIG. 10) the cutting portion X of a tool Y adapted to be carried by the tool-carrier of a machine tool, for example. The cutting portion has, in the illustrated example, a top end face b, and two side faces a and c, all of which must be ground to predetermined inclinations so as to provide proper cutting. In order to grind a tool of this type with the structure of the invention, the workpiece is of course mounted on the work-holding means 10. The machine of the invention is then operated to grind first side face a, then the top end face b, and finally the other side face of the workpiece. For cutting the side face a the rockable support means 8 is inclined to tilt the work at an angle of 6 with respect to the vertical (FIG. 12) to one side or the other of a vertical axis depending upon the direction in which the top face of the cutter is to be inclined. This position is maintained up until the end of the entire grinding of the entire workpiece. The rotary support means 5 is then turned so as to situate the work (FIG. 11) at an angle of in front of the grinding wheel, and then the grinding wheel itself is inclined so as to take into account the 6 inclination of the workholding means, an angle of, for example, 1 inclination, as shown in FIG. 12. FIG. 10 shows this setting in side view. With the parts thus adjusted the grinding of the side face is carried out to provide the 7 inclination shown in FIG. 17b. In order to then proceed to grind the top end face of the cutter, the rotary support means 5 is turned to displace the work at an angle of 7 in front of the grinding wheel (FIG. 14), and the stop 27 is placed in contact with the work. Now the grinding wheel 18 is given an inclination of 5 to the vertical (FIG. 15) and the grinding of the end face b takes place as shown most clearly in FIG. 13. In this way the 5 angle of FIG. 17a is achieved. Finally, without any further movement of the workpiece itself the grinding wheel itself is turned to an inclination where its fiat grinding surface is at 90 with respect to a vertical axis (FIG. 16), and the final grinding of the side face 0 of the cutter takes place, providing the 7 angle of FIG. 17c. Now the grinding operations are completed, the work is removed and the machine can be returned to its rest position.

With respect to known machines, the grinding machine of the invention provides the following distinctions and advantages:

With the structure of the invention all of the axes of rotation of various adjustable components as well as the rotary elements substantially intersect each other in the region where the grinding of the work actually takes place. A single displacement in the direction L (FIG. 3) of the carriage 13 enables all of the work of the machine to be carried out. This displacement remains horizontal so that there is always equilibrium. The grinding surface of the wheel 18 is always, in all positions of the machine, in a plane which includes the axis of rotation of the angularly movable support means 20, which is to say the axis of the shaft 57, and this axis is always parallel to the direction of longitudinal displacement of the carriage 13. The grinding is carried out exclusively by the flat face of the grinding wheel 18. The machine of the invention is capable of grinding all cutting parts of the work, including the front and top faces thereof. A single hollow cutting wheel of conical configuration is capable of carrying out all of the grinding operations without being removed from the machine, irrespective of whether the grinding operations involves a cutting stroke directed to the right or to the left. The possibility of releasing the cutting wheel for downward movement so that it can be controlled by cable 34 enables the roughgrinding operations to be carried out very rapidly. The

fixed position of the stop 27 which is short and rigid and which can be situated on either side of the rockable support means 8 depending upon whether the grinding progresses toward the right or to the left results in a single adjustment of the work with respect to an axis perpendicular to the axis about which the rockable support means 8 can turn and permitting a choice in the point of contact with a cutting tooth of the work. The position of the stop 27 is independent of the particular inclination of the side surface of the work, and this stop 27' can remain at all times perpendicular to a line joining the tooth which is to be ground and the center of the workpiece. The angular positions of the rockable support means 8 with respect to the rotary support means 5 can be read on scales carried by the support means 5. The radial positions of the work can be read on the support means 8. During grinding of the profile of a tooth of the workpiece, the grinding wheel works in such a way that the principal force is axial or radial, as distinct from conventional dispositions which have a tendency to produce on the workpiece a rotary movement of the workpiece about its axis. The axis of the work held by the work-holding means 10 is maintained within plus or minus 7 of a vertical axis, so as to enable the heaviest workpieces to be ground Without any sacrifice in precision and while at the same time guaranteeing to the operator a very clear view of the work throughout all the operations thereon.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of grinders differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in grinding machines, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Wihout further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine for grinding workpieces such as cutters for machine tools, in combination, base means; an assembly of support means cooperating with each other and with said base means for supporting a workpiece for vertical movement, for rotary movement about a vertical axis, for horizontal movement about a horizontal axis, and for shifting movement along said horizontal axis; longitudinally movable carriage means carried by said base means for movement toward and away from said assembly of support means; transversely movable carriage means carried by said longitudinally movable carriage means for movement transversely with respect to the direction of movement of said longitudinally movable carriage means; angularly movable support means carried by said transversely movable carriage means for angular movement about a substantially horizontal axis which extends in the direction of movement of said longitudinally movable carriage means; a grinding wheel having a grinding face directed toward a workpiece carried by said assembly of support means, rotary wheel-carrier means carrying said grinding wheel in a position where said face is situated in a plane which includes the axis about which said angularly movable support means turns, said rotary wheel carrier means having an axis of rotation which is perpendicular to said axis about which said angularly movable support means turns; and manually operable lever means operatively connected to said longitudinally l3 movable carriage means for moving the latter and all of the structure carried thereby back and forth toward and away from said assembly of support means, so as to displace a grinding wheel carried by said rotary wheel carrier means back and forth along a given working stroke.

2. Ina machine tool for grinding workpieces such as cutters for machine tools, in combination, base means; an assembly of support means carried by said base means and cooperating with each other for supporting a workpiece at a selected one of a plurality of difierent attitudes; lower carriage means carried by said base means adjacent to said assembly of said support means for movement back and forth along a first linear path; upper carriage means carried by said lower carriage means for movement with respect thereto back and forth along a second linear path which is perpendicular to said first path; angularly movable support means carried by said upper carriage means for angular movement about a horizontal axis extending in the same general direction as said first path; a motor housing carried by said angularly movable support means for movement along an axis perpendicular to the axis of which said angularly movable support means turns; wheel-carrying motor means situated in said housing for carrying a grinding wheel and rotating the latter about said axis along which said housing is movable; manually operable spring means operatively connected to said housing -for displacing the latter along said axis along which said housing is movable between an upper finish-grinding position and a lower rough-grinding position; and manually operable cable means operatively connected to said housing for displacing the latter along said axis along which said housing is movable when the latter is in said lower rough-grinding position.

3. In a machine for grinding workpieces such as cutters for machine tools, in combination, hollow base means; a vertical column supported by said base means for vertical movement and having a top end portion situated above said base means; rotary support means carried by said top end portion of said column for rotation about a substantially vertical axis; rockable support means carried by said rotary support means for rocking movement about a substantially horizontal axis; work-holding means carried by said rockable support means; a vertical screw supported by said base means for rotation but prevented from moving axially; a nut through which said screw is threaded, said nut being fixed to said column so that in response to rotation of said screw said column will be vertically displaced; a worm wheel fixed to said screw; a worm meshing with said work wheel; a hand wheel fixed to said worm for manually rotating the latter for raising and lowering said column; and operator actuated turning means operatively connected to said worm for turning the latter through a given angular increment at each actuation of said turning means, so that in response to successive actuations of said turning means said column will be successively vertically raised and during each actuation through a predetermined increment.

4. In a machine as recited in claim 3, toot-pedal means operatively connected to said turning means for actuating the latter when said foot-pedal means is depressed, so that at each depression of said foot-pedal means said turning means is actuated to displace said column vertically by said predetermined increment.

5. In a machine for grinding workpieces such as cutters for machine tools, in combination, base means; vertically movable support means carried by said base means for vertical movement and having a top end portion situated above said base means; rotary support means carried by said top end portion of said vertically movable support means for rotary movement about a substantially vertical axis; rockable support means carried by said rotary support means for rocking movement about a substantially horizontal axis; work-holding means carried by said rockable support means for movement therealong in a direction substantially parallel to said horizontal axis,

said work-holding means being adapted to position a workpiece at a location where it is clearly visible to the operator; moving means operatively connected to said vertically movable support means for displacing the latter vertically through a given increment at each actuation of said moving means; longitudinally movable carriage means carried by said base means for longitudinal movement back and forth along a predetermined linear path toward and away from said vertically movable support means; transversely movable carriage means carried by said longitudinally movable carriage means for transverse movement relative thereto along a second path perpendicular to said first path; angularly movable support means carried by said transversely movable carriage means for angular movement about a substantially horizontal axis extending in the same direction as that in which said longitudinally movable carriage means moves; rotary wheelcarrying means carried by said angularly movable support means and adapted to carry a rotary grinding wheel having a face directed to said workpiece while supporting the latter for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the axis about which said angularly movable support means turns, said wheel carrying means supporting said grinding wheel in a position in which the axis of said grinding wheel intersects the axis of said angularly movable support means and said face of said wheel is located in a plane including said axis of said angularly movable support means; and manually operable lever means operatively connected to said longitudinally movable carriage means for displacing the latter back and forth along said first path to displace said grinding wheel along a given working stroke.

6 In a machine for grinding workpieces such as cutters which are used in machine tools, in combination, base means; vertically movable support means carried by said base means for vertical movement relative thereto and having a top end portion situated above said base means; rotary support means carried by said top end portion of said vertically movable suppont means for rotation about a vertical axis; work holding means carried by said rotary support means for holding work which is to be ground; lower carriage means carried by said base means for linear movement back and forth along a first predetermined path; upper carriage means carried by said lower carriage means for linear movement back and forth relative thereto along a second path which is perpendicular to said first path, one of said paths extending toward said vertically movable support means; angularly movable support means carried by said upper carriage means for angular movement about a substantially horizontal axis which extends in the direction of said one path; and rotary wheel carrier means carrying a grinding wheel having a face directed toward a workpiece carried by said work holding means, said rotary wheel carrier means having an axis of rotation perpendicular to the axis about which said angularly movable support means turns and supporting said wheel in a position in which said face of said wheel is located in a plane including said axis of sad angularly movable support means.

7. In a machine for grinding workpieces such as cutters which are used in machine tools, in combination, base means; vertically movable support means carried by said base means for vertical movement relative thereto and having a top end portion situated above said base means; rotary support means carried by said top end portion of said vertcially movable support means for rotation about a vertical axis; rockable support means carried by and extending upwardly from said rotary support means for rockable movement relative thereto about a substantially horizontal axis, so that said rotary and rockable support means move vertically with said vertical support means and said rockable support means turns with said rotary support means about said vertical axis while capable of turning about said horizontal axis relative thereto; work holding means carried by said rockable support means for holding work which is to be ground; lower carriage means carried by said base means for linear movement back and forth along a first predetermined path; upper carriage means carried by said lower carriage means for linear movement back and forth relative thereto along a second path which is perpendicular to said first path, one of said paths extending toward said vertically movable support means; angularly movable support means carried by said upper carriage means for angular movement about a substantially horizontal axis which extends in the direction of said one path; and rotary wheel carrier means carrying a grinding wheel having a face directed toward a workpiece carried by said work holding means, said rotary wheel carrier means having an axis of rotation perpendicular to the axis about which said angularly movable support means turns and supporting said wheel in a position in which said face of said wheel is located in a plane in-' cluding said axis of said angularly movable support means.

8. In a machine tool for grinding workpieces such as cutters for machine tools, in combination, base means; an assembly of support means carried by said base means and cooperating with each other for supporting a Workpiece at a selected one of a plurality of different attitudes; lower carriage means carried by said base means adjacent to said assembly of said support means for movement back and forth along a first linear path; upper carriage means carried by said lower carriage means for movement with respect thereto back and forth along a second linear path which is perpendicular to said first path; angularly movable support means carried by said upper carriage means for angular movement about a horizontal axis extending in the same general direction as said first path; a motor housing carried by said angularly movable support means for movement along an axis perpendicular to the axis of which said angularly movable support means turns; wheel-carrying motor means situated in said housing for carrying a grinding wheel and rotating the latter about said axis along which said housing is movable; manually operable spring means operatively connected to said housing for displacing the latter along said axis along which said housing is movable between an upper finish-grinding position and a lower rough-grinding position; manually operable lever means connected at one end to said base means for pivotal movement about a vertical axis and operatively connected to said lower carriage means for moving the latter and all of the structure carried thereby back and forth toward and away from said assembly of support means, so as to displace a grinding wheel carried by said wheel carrying motor means back and forth along a given working stroke; cable means operatively connected at one end thereof to said housing for displacing the latter during actuation of the cable means along said axis along which said housing is movable when the latter is in said lower rough-grinding position; and handle means pivotally mounted at the other end of said manually operable lever means and operatively connected to said cable means for actuating the latter.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,249,971 12/1917 Kramer 74151 1,422,682 7/ 1922 Eklund 74-151 1,917,504 7/1933 Curtis 51-225 1,984,528 12/1934 Gottlieb et al. 51125 2,055,361 9/1936 Oliver 51--225 2,118,912 5/1938 Armitage 51125 2,401,874 6/ 1946 Kilbride 51225 2,489,335 11/1949 Shadle 5156 2,548,277 4/ 1951 Whittlesey et al. 51--225 FOREIGN PATENTS 251,426 10/ 1912 Germany. 686,920 1/ 1940 Germany.

HAROLD D. WHITEHEAD, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT C. RIORDON, Examiner. 

2. IN A MACHINE FOR GRINDING WORKPIECE SUCH AS CUTTERS FOR MACHINE TOOLS, IN COMBINATION, BASE MEANS; AN ASSEMBLY OF SUPPORT MEANS COOPERATING WITH EACH OTHER AND WITH SAID BASE MEANS FOR SUPPORTING A WORKPIECE FOR VERTICAL MOVEMENT, FOR ROTARY MOVEMENT ABOUT A VERTICAL AXIS, FOR HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS; AND FOR SHIFTING MOVEMENT ALONG SAID HORIZONTAL AXIS; LONGITUDINALLY MOVABLE CARRIAGE MEANS CARRIED BY SAID BASE MEANS FOR MOVEMENT TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID ASSEMBLY FOR SUPPORT MEANS; TRANSVERSELY MOVABLE CARRIAGE MEANS CARRIED BY SAID LONGITUDINALLY MOVABLE CARRIAGE MEANS FOR MOVEMENT TRANSVERSELY WITH RESPECT TO THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF SAID LONGITUDINALLY MOVABLE CARRIAGE MEANS; ANGULARLY MOVABLE SUPPORT MEANS CARRIED BY SAID TRANSVERSELY MOVABLE CARRIAGE MEANS FOR ANGULAR MOVEMENT ABOUT A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL AXIS WHICH EXTENDS IN THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF SAID LONGITUDINALLY MOVABLE CARRIAGE MEANS; A GRINDING WHEEL HAVING A GRINDING FACE DIRECTED TOWARD A WORKPIECE CARRIED BY SAID ASSEMBLY OF SUPPORT MEANS, ROTARY WHEEL-CARRIER MEANS CARRYING SAID GRINDING WHEEL IN A POSITION WHERE SAID FACE IS SITUATED IN A PLANE WHICH INCLUDES THE AXIS ABOUT SAID ANGUALRLY MOVABLE SUPPORT MEANS TURNS, SAID ROTARY WHEEL CARRIER MEANS HAVING AN AXIS OF ROTATION WHICH IS PERPENDICULAR TO SAID AXIS ABOUT WHICH SAID ANGULARLY MOVABLE SUPPORT MEANS TURNS; AND MANUALLY OPERABLE LEVER MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID LONGITUDINALLY MOVABLE CARRIAGE MEANS FOR MOVING THE LATTER AND ALL OF THE STRUCTURE CARRIED THEREBY BACK AND FORTH TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID ASSEMBLY OF SUPPORT MEANS, SO AS TO DISPLACE A GRINDING WHEEL CARRIED BY SAID ROTARY WHEEL CARRIER MEANS BACK AND FORTH ALONG A GIVEN WORKING STROKE. 